Politics Without Democracy: A Study of the New Principal Officials Accountability System in Hong Kongt CHRISTINE LOH* RICHARD CULLEN** TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRO DUCTIO N................................................................................................... 129 II. "ONE COUNTRY, Two SYSTEMS" FRAMEWORK .................................................. 131 A. Constitutionalityof the POAS................................................................... 132 B. Limited Scope of Further Reform ............................................................. 134 III. BACKGROUND TO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE POAS .......................................... 134 A . Troubled Early Years ............................................................................... 134 B. Inexperienced Leadershipand Poor Management of Public Expectation .......................................................................... 135 t This Article is based on the Final Report prepared for (and published by) the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the Civic Exchange. The authors wish to thank the NDI, Washington D.C. for their generous financial support. They are also grateful to Christine Chung and Eric Bjornlund of NDI for their editing and substantive comments. They would like to acknowledge Rajesh Sharma of City University, Hong Kong and Yip Yan Yan of Civic Exchange for their research assistance, as well as Keith Akers of Monash University, Australia for his research on ministerial systems upon which Part VIII. of this Article is based. * CEO, Civic Exchange. Christine Loh is a former directly elected member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. She was a Founder of the Citizen's Party and also the Founder of the Civic Exchange. LL.D. (honoris causa) 2001, University of Hull; LL.M. 1998, City University, Hong Kong; LL.B. 1977, University of Hull. ** Professor of Business Law and Taxation, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Richard Cullen has spent most of the last decade undertaking research related to Hong Kong and China based at City University, Hong Kong. D.Jur. 1986, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada; LL.B. 1982, University of Melbourne Law School. C. Intra-Executive Tensions .................................................................... 136 D. LegCo's Call for Accountability ............................................................... 136 E. Chief Executive's Response ...................................................................... 137 F. Ad Hoc Reform ............. *............................................................................ 138 IV. FUNDAMENTALS OF THE POAS ........................................................................... 140 A. Objectives, Elements, and Arrangements ................................................. 140 B. Reorganization of Portfolios ..................................................................... 142 C. Revamped Executive Council ................................................................... 142 D. Director of the Chief Executive's Office ................................................... 144 E. Chief Secretary's Position ........................................................................ 145 F. Chief Executive in Council ....................................................................... 146 G. Appointment and Removal of Principal Officials ..................................... 147 H. Civil Service Reorganization .................................................................... 148 V. ACCOUNTABILITY- THEN AND Now .................................................................. 149 A. Colonial Legacy ....................................................................................... 149 B. Accountability to LegCo ........................................................................... 153 VI. EVALUATING SYSTEMS OF EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT ......................................... 154 A. M inisterial and Presidential Systems ....................................................... 154 B. The Origins of M inisterial Government .................................................... 155 C. Hong Kong's System of Executive Government ........................................ 156 D. Contrasting Systems of Executive Government ........................................ 156 VII. ISSUES ARISING FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POAS ..................................................................................................... 158 A. The Price of Expediency: Designing and Implementing POAS ................ 158 B. Elites and Public Opinion ......................................................................... 160 C. Power and Pressure Concentrated on the Chief Executive ...................... 161 D. Governing Style ........................................................................................ 162 E. Pressure to Perform ................................................................................. 162 F. Policy Uncertainty .................................................................................... 163 G. Policy M aking M echanisms ...................................................................... 164 H. Relationship With the M edia .................................................................... 165 1. Relationship With the Legislature ............................................................. 165 J. Party Politics and Alliances ..................................................................... 166 K. New Governing Coalition ......................................................................... 168 L. Challenge to the "Opposition ................................. ,................................ 169 M . Political Neutrality and the Civic Service ................................................ 169 N. Rebuilding Relations With the Civil Service ............................................. 170 VIII. BEST PRACTICE M INISTERIAL M ODEL FOR HONG KONG ..................................... 172 A. Benchmarking M inisterial Systems ........................................................... 172 B. M inisterial Code of Conduct .................................................................... 173 IX. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 174 APPENDIX I: CHIEF EXECUTIVE ON THE PRINCIPAL OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM ............................................................................................... 179 APPENDIX II: NEW STRUCTURE OF THE POLICY BUREAUS UNDER THE POAS ........................................................................................................... 186 [VOL. 4: 127, 2003] Politics Without Democracy SAN DIEGO INT'L L.J. I. INTRODUCTION Hong Kong should continue to command international attention in its political evolution not only because it provides a unique example of a polity in transition but also because it gauges the tolerance level of China's Central People's Government for political experimentation in a part of the country that has a constitution permitting gradual political reform. In 1997, sovereignty changed from British to Chinese hands but there was no change to the governing system at that time. Indeed, the goal then was preservation for the sake of stability and certainty. The point of departure from the colonial system came with the introduction of the Principal Officials Accountability System (POAS), which created a new layer of political appointees to become top policy makers. Whilst various aspects of the system remain to be worked out, it will have far reaching consequences for Hong Kong as a whole. In October 2000, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administration (HKSAR) Tung Chee-hwa first proposed a new "executive accountability" system during his annual policy address.1 A year later, he promised to present "feasible proposals" although the next term's Chief Executive would have to decide whether or not to implement them. 2 In his re-selection platform, the Chief Executive made it clear that he wanted to put the system in place by July 2002, at the start of the next term of office.3 On April 17, 2002, Tung, with his second term firmly secured, announced the details of the POAS to the Legislative Council (LegCo).4 LegCo was pressured to approve the proposed system within two months. During a government motion in LegCo to approve the POAS in principle on May 29 and 30, 2002, many legislators remarked that they had been given insufficient time to deliberate the issues involved. 1. Tung Chee-hwa, Serving the Community, Sharing Common Goals, Chief Executive Policy Address, at paras. 109-13 (Oct. 11, 2000), at http://www.policyaddress.gov.hk/paOI/eindex/html. 2. Tung Chee-hwa, Building on our Strengths, Investing in our Future, Chief Executive Policy Address, at paras. 130-40 (Oct. 10, 2001), at http://www.policyaddress.gov.kh/paOI/speech-e.htm. 3. Tung Chee-hwa, My Pledge to the People of Hong Kong (Jan. 29, 2002), at http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200112/13/eng20011213_86634.shtml. 4. Tung Chee-hwa, Address to the Legislative Council on the Introduction of the POAS (April 17, 2002), at http://www.info.gov.hk/ce/speech/cesp.htm [hereinafter Tung, Speech to LegCo on the POAS, April 17, 2002]. See infra Appendix I for the full text. Despite the haste with which it was promoted, the POAS is an important milestone in Hong Kong's political evolution. It has introduced fundamental change to Hong Kong's governing system that is unprecedented in scope and complexity.